Morality
by kkann
Summary: Unable to confess his deepest secret to his own mother, Danny instead questions the mentality of his mother, and her thoughts on the morality of the ghosts she and her husband so eagerly pursued. Then again, he never said he was ready for her answers...


**A/N:** Wel-l-l-l...I don't quite know what to say about this. My first ever DP fanfiction -not quite actually, there were some other plot-bunnies, but they're road kill now I believe. Hmm. Ah well. This was meant to be Angst-Family-Hurt/Comfort, and all the jazz. I'm not quite sure if it all turned out that way, but I do like it.

I guess I'll let you guys decide that though. :')

_Edit as of 3/28 and to all who reviewed: Thank you all so much for your amazing reviews! You all honestly have no idea how much I appreciate it and how happy it made me. A few of you bought up the question of whether or not there's going to be a sequel, and at the moments it's...'up-in-the-air' should we say. If I find the time to, I will definately write one after I finish some of my other projects here. (It'll be added to this story, rather than a separate one-shot.) Again, thank you all! :'D_

* * *

_**Morality**_

_C'mon Danny, you can do this. Just open your mouth and tell her! She's your mother, she deserves to know!_

If only it were that easy. The so-called 'accident' had been months ago, and the adolescent had yet to tell his mother of his new-found…'abilities.' In all honesty, confessing his secret was easier said than done. All he thought he had to do was open his mouth and pour out his soul, only hoping that she was listen, that she would understand. Hoping that she would still love him.

As he'd already found out, nothing was ever easy for Danny Fenton.

Then again, she was his mother, and he her son, therefore she should love his regardless. But would she see him differently? Would he be the freak child, rather than her little baby boy that she would so affectionately call him? What would happen when he told his parents the truth –that he was partially the very thing they so ruthlessly hunted? Granted they failed for the most part, but there had been times where they had come _so close_ to erasing Danny Phantom from all planes of existence.

And that scared him.

The fact that they would rush in with a no-holds-barred method of ghost hunting without every truly assessing the situation. The fact that Danny Phantom was their son. What would he do -what would _they_ do, if they ever succeeded in vaporizing what had been dubbed the town menace? When they succeeded in …_destroying_ their own son?

He would never admit it, but all he truly wanted was for them to accept him as the freak he was. He wanted his mother, his father, -not his _friends_, not his _sister_- to take him in their arms and tell him that for once everything would be alright. He didn't wanted to be afraid of his parents, afraid of what they could do to his other half if they ever got the opportunity. Would he get the chance to explain everything to them? Would he be able to convince them of the truth before…?

…He didn't want to think about that.

But it just made him so _angry_. Maybe more so than it should have. Having the general public nearly condemn him was one thing, but his _own parents_?

_It isn't fair! I'm not just some freak! But no one understands that because I don't fit in anywhere –I'm not a boy, I'm a ghost. I'm not a ghost, I'm a boy. I am a freak._

"What was that?" He hadn't realized he'd spoken the last bit of his internal woes out loud until his mother looked up from her morning coffee and whatever contraption she and her husband had invented the night before. Danny wasn't sure if he actually wanted to know what it was. Her eyebrows knit together in that motherly way as her eyes darted downward to study her son's hand. "Danny, you're crushing your spoon."

He blinked in recognition once before dropping the slightly bent piece of metal into the murky remains of what had once been his Saturday morning breakfast. He placed his hand in his raised palm, failing to catch the quiet, exasperated sigh that escaped his lips. Below the table his hand clenched into a fist before he released it. If Maddie noticed this, she withheld any comments regarding it.

"Is there something wrong Danny?" There it was, the prodding tone he'd come to expect during the last few months. Funny how neither she nor Jack had pried into his life at all until after the start of freshman year. Oh the joys that came with having an alter-ego he couldn't tell his parents about.

_More than you know. I guess I should just tell you. It's probably gonna come around and bite me in the butt either way. …Come on Danny, just say it!_

"No," He muttered, his half-lidded eyes staring blankly at the wall opposite his mother. She hardly missed a beat, setting down the screwdriver she'd been using.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" She let that question settle before assaulting him with another. "Is there anything you need to tell me?"

_Mom, will you love me no matter what happens?_

"No,"

_I just need to know._

"Danny."

_I need you to tell me everything's going to be okay._

"Mom."

I need to tell you the truth.

"Daniel?"

_I need to know if you guys will still accept me._

He didn't respond for a bit, blinking at the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes. Masking them with a yawn he rubbed at them in an irritated manner. His gaze settled on a random cabinet, unable to withstand the growing look of concern on his mother's face.

"Danny, please. If there's anything-"

"Do you and Dad hate all ghosts?"

Maddie was dumbstruck by his accusatory question, having instead partially expected him to tell her that he had a girlfriend –in all honesty she wouldn't have been surprised to hear it was Sam. Regardless. His tone caught her off guard however, causing her to stare at him for a moment or two before responding.

"What? Why would you think that?" She felt a tug in her chest at the saddening look on Danny's face. He lowered his palm, folding his arms together on the table, studying the remains of his cereal bowl.

"It's just that you and Dad always talk about hunting ghosts and studying them." He blinked at the milky remnants, watching the leftover mushy bits form a frown. "I was just wondering if it was because you hated them or something."

"We don't _hate_ ghosts, Danny. We just-"

"Then why do you always talk about destroying them?" Once more Maddie found herself backtracking, bewildered by the look in her son's eyes as he leveled his gaze with hers. "Dad says he wants to," He placed his fists at his hips, frowning. "'Rip them apart molecule-by-molecule!' and you always say, 'Well no, Jack, don't you want to at least dissect the remains?'" Danny's impression of them was fairly uncanny as he quoted his parents. His arms fell back onto the table, looking back at him mother. "That seems like quite a bit of hate to me."

A small smile pulled at the corner of her mouth, yet she immediately bit it back at the hurt look on her son's face –he thought she was mocking him.

"Your father and I don't hate ghosts."

"Then _why_?" An eyebrow rose slightly, and Maddie took this opportunity to push aside her tools, drawing her coffee closer in an attempt to warm her hands.

"Because we're curious Danny. We're scientists. All of those discoveries, everything you read about in your textbooks was all because of curiosity. People questioned the world around them." She paused, interjecting another comment toward to her son. "Do you remember all those Greek myths I read to you when you were younger?" He nodded slowly, not quite seeing the point. "Those stories of the Gods and Titans –that was how they explain what they didn't understand about their world. They had the ingenuity-"

"The what?" Danny's brow furrowed, mentally embarrassed for not understanding part of his mother's vocabulary, furthermore for being the C student amongst a family of –while often questionable- geniuses.

"They were creative." She explained. "They had the right idea, but they didn't have the technology or the tools to explain everything. Instead they came up with stories to explain why storms occurred, why trees and horses existed- everything they ever questioned was explained by old stories."

"Now you see, scientists have the same basic idea, but instead of using creative little tales, they use, well, science, and conduct experiments. Where the ancient Greeks used words, we use beakers. Where they used their imaginations, we use our intelligence."

Danny had the urge to tell her that all she had succeeded in doing what skirting his question rather than actually answering it. He'd been about to interrupt before she continued.

"Regardless, Danny, I've never hated ghosts, exactly. Disliked them? At times, certainly. When they threaten my friends, my family? You can be sure that I'll never take too kindly to that." She looked over at her son, gauging his reaction to determine whether or not the amount of information she gave him was good enough. Of course, in a sense, it wasn't. It wouldn't ever be, not to Danny.

"So you just want to study them?"

She nodded.

"You don't want to destroy them?"

She shook her head, but paused mid-shake. "Well, I guess it would depend."

"On what?" Danny asked, curious himself this time.

"Like I said, if a ghost is threatening the people I care about, it'll be a cold day in the Sahara before I befriend it." Again, Danny asked her if she would be willing destroy it, even without knowing anything about it. Her eyebrows rose, making Danny's heart leap, feeling he'd been giving her too much personal information he wasn't sure he was ready to share.

"Why so many questions, hun?" He swallowed, feeling anxiety settle in his stomach. He flipped through his options quickly, trying to find something to say in his defense.

"It's just…" He ran a hand through the hair that had fallen into his face, only to have it flop back down lifelessly into his eye before he tried again. He took a breath, and then looked back at his mother. "Sometimes when you and dad talk, you make it sound like ghosts are just pure evil. Like they're not even a real person with any thoughts or feelings. I thought _you_ said before that ghosts are like the remains of people who've already…you know, died."

Maddie felt another tug on her heartstrings at Danny's disheartened expression. There was also a nagging feeling in the back of her mind –Danny must have been alluding to something, but she didn't know just what.

"Some are, yes. But that's not true for all of them." Her son frowned slightly at this, a sure sign that he did not fully comprehend what she'd meant. He was quick to voice this, prompting her to further elaborate. "Not all ghosts were once people Danny. Most of those evil spirits that you hear about are actually manifestations of energy- anger that has taken on some physical form. For example…" She leaned back in her chair slightly. "…Ah yes. Do you remember that story about -oh what was it…" Maddie bit her lip as she attempted to recall some old story she'd heard years before. Danny simply gave her a blank look as he waited for her to continue.

"Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed, her eyes opening abruptly as she leaned forward again. "There were some accounts of people claiming that they were attacked in their house by something they couldn't see –do you remember that? And one man claimed to have seen a demonic face in the attic window, while other people heard strange noises?"

Danny was silent for a few moments, his eyes squinting just a bit as he thought about what his mother had said, trying to apply it to both the discussion they'd been having and to his memories. When he looked back at his mother his smile was small, but it was still there.

"You mean the 'Amityville Horror'?" He snickered and then rolled his eyes. "Mom, that's just a movie." His mother half rolled her eyes yet smirked as she too chuckled. "Besides, I don't really see your point."

"My point is, the angry spirits those people were talking about were not human beings. Instead those demon specters were created by all that anger and rage in that house. That one man murdered the rest of his family, and the fury in his spirit and those he killed were never properly put to rest, so instead it remained in that house with all of those other vengeful emotions and terrorized those who attempted to live there." Danny frowned down at the tabletop as this processed, his head giving a slow and timid nod.

"So you're saying that not all ghosts were people. Some are just a bunch of anger and other feelings that are stuck in one spot, and the only thing that they can really do is attack people." Maddie bit her lip gently as her gaze rested on a spot somewhere above her son's head.

"In a way, yes." She then lowered her gaze to meet the boy's. "But I have a feeling that's not really what you were asking, is it?"

"…Not really." He muttered quietly in response. "I was just wondering why you and dad wanted to destroy ghosts so much-" He trailed off, taking a few deep breaths as his mind relived the few instances his family had come way too close to annihilating him for his liking.

"Hey mom? "His mother was fidgeting with her fingernails when he finally picked up his head from his chest after a couple minutes of silence. She was taken aback by the expression on his face.

"Let's say…" He paused again, trying to keep his gaze steady while he began to say what he felt must be said. "What if… What if hypo- hypothe…Ugh." He groaned, extremely annoyed with himself for being unable to think of the right word to say.

"Hypothetically?" The redhead ventured through the look of growing concern glued to her face. The youngest of the Fenton clan let out an almost thankful sigh.

"Yeah. What if hypothetically, I was…" He took another breath. "What if I was a ghost?"

The faucet let loose a few droplets.

"What?"

"What if I was a ghost? Would you destroy me?" Danny restated, his anxiety level steadily decreasing as he finally started speaking. Instead his voice was filled with anger and betrayal. "Would you and dad pick up your ecto-weapons and shot me? Would you willingly do it, just because I was a ghost?" His hands clenched into fists. His brow furrowing. Completely ignoring the shocked look on his mother's face he continued. "Could you do it mom? _Would_ you do it?"

_You've already come so close._

"Could you look the ghost-me in the eye while you did it? Would you ever regret it?"

_I still can't believe you haven't figured it out yet._

Tears were already falling down his face, but he didn't care. He honestly didn't. Maddie felt her own eyes well up as she watched her son fall apart.

_Fenton…Phantom. We're both named Danny! Why haven't you figured that out yet?!_

_Public Enemy Number One! I might as well have that stamped on my forehead!_

_Look me in the eye and tell me the truth!_

"You are my son Danny!" The abrupt outcry of his mother caught him off guard, instead of the enraged unsung-hero he'd begun as, he was the wounded animal, completely terrified of his surroundings. In all the fourteen years he'd known her, he'd never seen his mother act like this –somehow being angry, defensive, and sympathetic at the same time. And all as a result of his morbid curiosity. "Don't you ever think for one second that I'd ever hurt you. _Don't you ever_." A tear left its mark as it descended down her cheek. "I love you Danny. I always have, and I always will. I would never do anything to hurt you, or cause you any pain. If you were a ghost, I wouldn't care. I would still love you because _you are my son."_

That answered that question for him. But why did he still feel so …empty? So hurt, and uncomfortable in his own home?

"No matter what, I would never give up on you. You could be some evil demonic being, but you would still be _my son_." With an angry swipe across his face with his shirt sleeve Danny attempted to erase any remains of his outburst, still feeling the stinging wounds of it. What his mother said next got his breath caught in his throat.

"You could be Danny Phantom for all I cared, but you would still be my son. And I could never hurt you." For a second he thought she knew. Maybe she did.

_Wouldn't that make you a hypocrite then? Because I am Danny Phantom, and you've attacked me when I've tried to protect you? Besides… Your actions and words…Sometimes I'm not sure what hurts more._

"But he's Public Enemy Number One." Danny muttered quietly. And you've already tried to get rid of him. "He's not trying to hurt anyone mom. He's trying to help, no matter what Vlad says." His voice had a defensive edge to it when he spoke of his ghost half, and he'd practically spat out the name of his enemy.

"But you aren't him. Do you see what I mean?" Danny failed to understand what she'd meant by that, yet he was fairly certain that no one truly did or would. "Danny?" She asked when he didn't respond.

"Yeah," He mumbled, glancing dejectedly at what had once been his breakfast and what had once been a fairly well-to-do morning. Maddie opened her mouth to say more, reaching for the side of her son's face as his head inclined toward her outstretched hand. He closed his once bright and childish eyes, almost pleading for her reassuring touch-

"Hey Maddie! You've got to come check this out! I'm going to call it the Fenton Ecto-Extinguisher! Puts out fires and other stuff by using a ghost's energy against it! Now if only I-Augh!"

Her fingertips had just barely grazed his cheek when she retracted her hand and the relief that came with it. At the sound of her husband's voice her face fell only slightly, instead reaching for his hand and giving it what she hoped to be a comforting squeeze as his eyes slowly opened.

"I should probably go make sure your father doesn't hurt himself. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," He murmured quietly, keeping his head ducked in an effort to hide any tears of either sorrow or annoyance. He offered his mother a sad, yet hopeful smile, his eyes regaining some form of light. This made his mother smile before she turned as exited the kitchen. The moment she was gone his smirk dissipated.

_'Is there something wrong Danny? Is there anything you need to tell me?'_

"My name's Danny Fenton. I'm half-ghost. Mom, you said you wouldn't care if I was a ghost. Is that true? Would you destroy me if I was? Because _I am Danny Phantom_."

Like most instances for the past few months, his mother wasn't there when he needed her. She didn't hear him either.

He was gone long before she came back into the room.

* * *

**A/N:** Maybe it's just me, but I feel like Danny came out a bit whiny like 'love me, love me!' Oh well. Like I said before, I still do like how this turned out. Your opinions count too, of course. Danny was also supposed to say more when he asked if his mother would destroy him, and some of the original bits were better, but if I ever think of anything, I'll go back and fix 'em.  
Again, hmm...

But thanks! :D


End file.
